Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Jalen Brunson has scored a season-high 40 points to lead the New York Knicks past the Orlando Magic 132-120 and into the NBA Cup final.
Brunson also had eight assists in Saturday’s semi-final in Las Vegas, while teammate Karl-Anthony Towns added 29 points and OG Anunoby had 24.
The Knicks, who have won five games in a row and nine of their last 10, will play the winner of the later match between Oklahoma City and San Antonio on Tuesday night for the in-season championship crown.
Jalen Suggs scored 25 of his 26 points in the first half for the Magic before leaving in the fourth quarter because of a sore left hip. Paolo Banchero added 25 points and Desmond Bane scored 18.
This game had a playoff feel with both teams playing physically and taking seemingly every opportunity to push the pace. The Knicks shot 60.7 per cent and outscored the Magic 70-62 in the lane.
The game was back and forth with 11 lead changes and 10 ties before the Knicks went on a 10-point run late in the third quarter to take a 102-92 lead.
It appeared a little NBA history could be made when at halftime Brunson and Suggs had each scored 25 points. No regular-season game has produced a 50-point scorer from each team since 2000.
But Suggs scored just a point in the second half, and he clearly was hobbled. He went to the locker room early in the fourth quarter.
The Magic played without Franz Wagner, who is out several weeks with a high ankle sprain.
